4 Tips for Choosing the Safest Swing Set Location

Before constructing your new backyard swing set this spring, make sure to think carefully about where the best and safest location will be for the playground equipment. Use the following 4 guidelines to help you choose just the right spot:

Consider the ground — Level ground is the ideal place to situate a backyard swing set. Equipment placed on ground that is uneven or sloping can cause a swing set to tip when in use.

Create a safety zone — Ensure that there will be at least 6 feet of space around all swing set equipment. Increase that number for the area in front of and behind swings.

Keep it cool — Metal and dark-colored slides and surfaces get extraordinarily hot and can burn skin if they are placed in direct sunlight. Position the backyard swing set equipment so that slides and any dark surfaces will be out of direct sunlight for most of the day.

Planning ahead and carefully choosing the safest and most suitable location for your backyard swing set is the first significant contribution you make when it comes to playground safety. Once your swing set is in place, it’s hard to go back and move it to a better location, so take some time to be sure that it’s right from day one.

2 thoughts on “4 Tips for Choosing the Safest Swing Set Location”

Thank you for the great article. I’ve been wanting to get a swing set for my kids to be able to play on, and I wanted to learn more about them. You wrote that when choosing a location, you should always consider how exposed the set will be to the sun, as it could be dangerous for kids to play on a hot swing set. I’ll have to find a good set that could fit in the shady corner in our backyard, as that doesn’t get a lot of direct sun and that way my kids could play on it any time they wanted.